Copyright (C) 2003 Adam Boggs
Hi Everyone,
I know it hasn't been long since my last report... this one will be quick. I found a ride out to lisbon today. Actually two, so I need to work that out since they both think I'm going with them. Ugh. I've spent the last several day exploring San Miguel, and my spirits have been up and down between loving travelling and being totally homesick.
A couple of days ago I took a random bus ride up to a town called Mosteiros. Nobody there speaks any english so I got to use my best hand waving gestures to find the one place in town to sleep, a few rooms above a little snack bar just outside the main square. I was pretty lonely that night since my friend Mattijs left for Lisbon and I turned down the ride with them, and there was nobody else to talk to. The next morning though, I ran into a very nice French girl who was going to be leading a hiking tour through the azores and was practicing all of her hikes first. So I asked her if I could join her for her hike instead of just heading back to the city alone and defeated. We had a lot of fun. The hike took us through a 1200m tunnel used to drain these two lakes up in the caldeira. One lake is blue and the other green, but the blue lake is more yellow because of a fungus that has been growing due to agriculture and pollution. The hike ended up on Vista del Rei, or View of the king. It was awesome! She left the next day though, and I again was alone.
After taking a day off to do laundry and look for a boat, I felt much better. I ventured up to another town called Furnas, where they have active mud pots that they cook in. It was a lot like Yellowstone with lots of steam and boiling water. I bought some bread that they make there and some local honey, and that was lunch. I saw an amazing botanical garden that had a big pool fed by the springs and went swimming in it. It was green and murky, but fun and felt good.
So, the plan today is to pack up, check out, and hit the seas. I will be going with a guy named Peter on his boat, "Chase". He's very experienced and has a really nice boat, so I feel comfortable. The are 4 of us on the crew, and they all seem like nice people. The passage to Lisbon should be 5-7 days, so it's not as big of a deal as the 15 day passage to here.
I'll check in again when I've explored the mainland, hope everyone is doing well!
-Adam
